He was a Shawfield-born showman who travelled the world - but who was Harry Margolis? Here are five facts about the legendary bandleader.
1 Glasgow’s king of the swing, Harry Margolis, was a larger-than-life character who devoted his whole life to entertaining others. He was a big band leader who loved to make people laugh - driving around with a large red phone on his car dashboard, even although it wasn’t attached to anything, he would often wind his window down at traffic lights, hold the phone out to a passer-by and say: “It’s for you.”
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2 Harry grew up in a flat on Rutherglen Road in the Gorbals, one of six children. His parents were Jewish refugees who had fled the Russian pogroms. He discovered his lifelong love of music at the age of seven, starting with the violin and graduating to the bass guitar.
3 While still at school, a scout spotted his talent for music and invited him to join a big band in Brighton for a season. When he returned to Glasgow, he played at the famous Locarno on Sauchiehall Street and decided to form his own band. He was a fixture on the city’s thriving music scene in the 40s and 50s, and eventually travelled the world as bandleader, agent and entrepreneur.
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4 Harry had a home at Bermuda’s Elbow Beach Surf Club and frequently played New York and Las Vegas. He met Fats Waller, Joe Loss and Count Basie, and one of his proudest moments was meeting Jack Dempsey, the former world heavyweight boxing champion.
5 For many years he ran his own entertainment organisation from his home in Giffnock. He and his band also had a decade-long association with the Pivo Pivo venue in Wellington Street, playing there each Saturday afternoon. Harry died on Christmas Eve, 2014, at the age of 97.
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